Posted by Jacob Resneck, CoastAlaska | Jan 13, 2021
The fast ferry Chenega in 2005. It cost $34 million and the state is seeking to get at least $5 million. (Photo by Alaska Department of Transportation)
The state of Alaska is trying to sell its idled fast ferries as it seeks to reduce the size of the Alaska Marine Highway System’s fleet.
So far its only taker comes from Trasmapi, an Ibiza-based ferry company that runs catamarans between the Mediterranean island and Spanish mainland. The Spanish firm offered a pair of bids for a combined worth of $4.6 million for the Chenega and Fairweather.
“And that is all the bids we have on the vessels,” said Tom Mayer, who works in the Alaska Department of Transportation’s procurement section, after the bids were unsealed on Wednesday afternoon.